Do you wanna tank? Do you wanna fight? Do you want a class that'll instill fright? Pick up some plate and keep the goblins in sight Cuz you wanna make sure they eat this Paladin *S M I T E* -Legendary bard, JoCat
@@PlanktonWhisperer DM here, I don't allow multiclassing because it typically takes away from the story when my holy cleric takes 3 levels in rogue then jumps to druid. Second, it makes for typically overpowered characters that are incredibly strong in one thing but kind of weak in another. This forces me to play to their strengths if I want to avoid a TPK. So yeah, multiclassing banned. For good reasons.
Their main Stat IS Strength though... Charisma does a lot for them, yes. But does very little that actively wins an encounter Strength is used for both accuracy and damage of their attacks. Do you want to do Smites? You need to hit first Charisma helps improve the DC of their Spells; but look at the Paladin Spell list. How many of their spells impose a DC Save that do not also involve a Weapon Attack? Charisma improves their Saving throws with Aura of Protection - This is huge bonus. But it's still more helpful to the party if you kill or control enemies than to get a net +1 or 2 to evade a fireball You win a combat encounter by reducing your enemies actions per round to zero; With the exception of Conquest Paladins who can use their spellcasting more aggressively, Charisma does not do that for the class Notes: The fact that Aura of protection also helps allies saves is good, very good at times, but also leaves your party vulnerable to AoE - So your mileage here may vary. Hexblade Multiclass is popular to get CHA on Weapon attacks; but you still need at least 15 STR to avoid a speed penalty from Heavy Armor; and it severely limits your weapon options. (Greatsword or Glaive being the best options for paladins who want to deal damage) Exception Exists for Paladin who plans to multiclass Sorcerer. Similar to Conquest Paladins; a Soradin is very capable of spellcasting aggressively while dealing out weapon attacks
@@TheGaboom paladins do mid damage anyway, and smite is usually not as efficient as ust casting. Not to mention you lose very little from just having +3. In a caster's world, saving throws are the best thing a marital can bring.
@@Siennarchist Mid damage...compared to what, exactly? Not even talking about Divine Smite; A Great Weapon Master can do considerable single-target damage Greatsword with GWM = 22.33 Damage - 2 Attacks at 5 And a Paladin has all sorts of tools to compensate that -5 accuracy penalty Smiting is definitely inefficient when talking about resource management, but on the action economy - that single target burst damage can wreck shop. _ __________ _ If you have downtime, craft some scrolls for your casting - the low level ones don't take that long to make and can free up slots to smite. A Full caster can still beat them when it comes to AoE damage and control - but when it comes to Single Target damage a Great Weapon Master is hard to beat (Usually with Polearm Master as well, but I usually Greatsword as Paladin since I personally like saving the bonus action as a Paladin for some casting) _ __________ _ I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a casters world; you aren't fighting the Wizard on your team You are working together fighting monsters and various creatures / encounters the GM throws out - So while you may encounter some Class-Level NPCs the GM designs manually ~ most targets are those pre-made from the books, and very few of those have proper spellcasting
paladins in general are easy to play and solid, they don't have incredible damage nor their aura is greatly effective (I mean you want to be more like 15 or 20 foot away from the tank so melee enemies can't get to you on first turn). I do think that strength should be raised first and that a good starting cha bonus (+3) will be more than enough. My go to is PAM and dueling with shield as vHuman, raise to 18 str at 4 and pick lucky at 8.
Eh, a plus 1 to ac is only a 5 percent chance of not getting hit when you would've been hit. There's much better fighting styles available. For instance inception which let's you use your reaction to reduce the amount of damage an ally takes. You can play your character however you want but this is about optimization not stylization
@@davidanddragons5339 that percentage is additive, if you have a silly amount of AC the average odds of you getting hit drops more significantly than 5%.
Big Disagree here. Optimizing a Paladin depends on your goals. For Example; If your goal is melee damage, STR is Primary Stat for a damage-build Paladin, then CHA. Using standard array Point-Buy; As a Variant Human, get the Great Weapon Master feat and begin with 16 STR and CHA, any other points going to CON Use a 2-Handed Weapon - Great Weapon Master feat; Relying on Magic Items, Bless, Channel Divinity, etc to cover the penalty to hit. Preferably Polearm Master as well, but as a half-caster, you could get away with using a Greatsword instead for style points Longsword Damage with dueling fighting style is 6.5 Greatsword Damage with the fighting style and GWM feat is 18.33~ Your class gives you the tools to compensate that accuracy penalty, especially with Vengeance and Devotion Paladins; make use of it, and your reward will be damage. Notes: - Monsters do not have that high of AC on average ; Because of this, any accuracy bonuses are most powerful in the hands of a GWM who can translate those bonuses into damage - Your Aura bonus to saves is not the be all / end all. Being next to your friends improves Saves, but also makes you all vulnerable to AoE effects. - Only use Divine Smite if you think it will make the difference in finishing an enemy off; Varies by table, use your best judgement depending how often you get Long Rests - Keep a Thrown or Ranged Weapon handy ; You are strongest in melee, but keep your options open in case key targets are out of reach Moreover on the topic of Warlock Multiclass; Hexblade Warlock does make Paladin stats easier, but it severely limits your weapon options until 3 Levels of Warlock (Assuming Pact of Blade). So only competes in damage at 9+ ; At which point you would have otherwise been close to unlocking Improved Divine Smite for a +1d8 Damage to all of your attacks Further, a Straight level 9 Paladin would have been gaining access to level 3 Spells. - Aura of Vitality - Crusaders Mantle - Dispel Magic - Crown Paladins get Spirit Guardians, Oathbreakers Animate Dead, Redemption get Counterspell AND Hypnotic Pattern, and Watchers also Get Counterspell There is value in Warlock Multiclass, but IMO it is not comparable to a Pure Paladin in most cases (Depending on your Oath; mileage may vary) Sorcerer Paladin works well though because of Quicken allowing you to pair any spell with the Attack Action, which is huge for your action economy
As a conquest paladin being able to fear someone and knock them prone will put the fear of God into them when their movement speed is 0 and they can't get back up.
If the enemy is not immune to Fear, Wrathful smite is AMAZING because it's a Wisdom Check and not a Wisdom Save. Also, there are some great healing combos with Clerics or Bards. Beacon of Hope combined with Mass Cure Wounds can massively heal the entire party in a single turn.
Another option... pick vhuman or custom lineage pick a feat that allows you to pick a cantrip or two from warlock spell list to pick up magic stone use a sling and the smites that work with ranged weapons to have a fun time. Warning DM rulings may vary consult with your DM but this is a fun build
Also: the custom smites give you more smite per smite. You cast a custom smite like searing smite, hit the thing and use divine smite on top of that. More smite per smite
@@alexanderblixt1221 It works with your smites and smite spells, you get more value with it as a paladin than any other class. Then you take the Great Weapon Master feat.
@@Tsequiri You do get value out of it, but it is still less than 1 damage per dice. It's good, but nothing to write home about. Great Weapon Master is very good as always, of course, but if you intend to take a penalty to your attack rolls, you should reserve some spell slots for bless rather than smites.
Vos vidéos sont très utiles pour ceux et celles qui veulent commencer une aventure dans le monde fantastique de DnD. Merci pour tout les idées que vous m'avez donner!
For an advanced trick, I found taking 3 levels into celestial warlock bolstered my paladin skill set very well. Bonus action healing, renewing spell slots, & utility invocations to be a better heal tank.
I'm currently playing a Oath of vengeance Palatin Hexblade Multiclass in one of my groups and it's so much fun, he is a Paladin that got cursed by a coven of Cultists and his entite family died because of the curse (the reason for his oath of vengeance), he didn't die because the magic sword he was gifted (by a highpriest of Ares, yes there are all kinds of mythologies in the campaign) absorbed the curse and became sentient and that is how he became a Hexblade.
One time I made a Paladin (8th level) who's entire selection of spells was smites. He was Oath of the open sea, so he did have a couple that weren't smites, but that was only cuz of his subclass.
Counterargument: maxing Charisma for spells isn't the best idea. Most of the time you will end up using self buffs or buffs to the party that either give dice improvements or help with conditions. Since there are no saves or spell attacks involved, you don't need a 20 Cha to work as a good spellcaster. Ofc maxing your Cha for the aura is indeed very smart, but a +3 goes a long way without investing so hard in Charisma. It really depends on what you want to do with you Paladin, but usually you would rather max out your Con/main damaging stat (Dex or Str) than Cha. If you use feats, it becomes even more secondary.
It wasn’t an optimized paladin build but; In one campaign we had the deck of many things. Of the cards we pulled, one was the level 4 fighter companion and the other was three wishes. We were already reallly late in the campaign so we wished for the fighter to be level 20 (same as us). After rolling stats I went home and multiclassed the shit out of it… Same race as me, so Half-Elf Level 4 Fighter (as required) Battle master (Bait&switch, goading attack, and disarming attack) Level 4 Barbarian Totem warrior (bear) Level 4 Monk Open hand Level 8 Paladin Oath of the Ancients We had a homebrew item that gave players more attunement slots based on how many other players had the same item and were “friends” (some role play restrictions) but in total from the treasures we had gathered, he had Storm Girdle, Sword of Answering, Animated Shield, Belt of Dwarvenkind, and a Guardian Emblem. After a few ASI’s the stats were: STR 23 (from a 13 with the storm girdle) CON 20 DEX 20 INT 11 WIS 14 CHA 20 As well as the Sentinel and Telekinetic feats. Unarmored defense of 20(barbarian) plus a shield (it’s animated so not technically holding a shield) Max hp of 244 Fighting styles: unarmed fighting and interception Dedicated monk weapon long sword (sword of answering) with flurry of blows buffed by open hand 1 extra attack Auras of protection and warding: +cha to saving throws for allies and resistance to spell damage Resistance to all damage except psychic while raging Maneuvers that support allies Smites to improve damage while not raging (flurry of blows while raging) Channel divinity to restrain or turn enemies While not holding the shield(animated) 40ft movement speed (to trigger Bait&switch easier) Deflect missiles for ranged weapon defense and interception fighting style to protect allies Minor healing abilities from paladin Advantage against being charmed and can’t be put to sleep (Half-Elf) Access to compelled duel spell plus goading strike to prevent attacks against allies Sentinel feat to stop enemies going after allies Telekinetic feat to shove creatures from a distance if needed (can also shove allies away from enemy reach) This dude was a tank for damage and supported us players with everything it had. I didn’t want to break the game by making an overpowered Dps character that could shred enemies (so no hexblade or rogue, or spellcaster besides paladin), but with amazing rolls and some unused equipment I made an overpowered tank support for our mostly squishy party. One thing I’ve learned is that there’s nothing DMs hate more than an extremely efficient and effective support to derail the dm’s combat plans. With all the positioning support, goading, resistances, and defense, it was hard to get multiple hits against anyone else and if you did it came at a huge cost for relatively little damage…
get one level in warlock hexblade so you can attack with charisma you can dip 5 levels to double smite... and if you need slots you can get 3 levels of sorcerer divine soul for slot and sorcery points
Fun fact: there's nothing that says you can only smite with your main hand weapon. Pick up the dual wielder feat and snag two finesse weapons and enjoy smiting three times per round.
nice to know after we've done hoard of the dragon queen and are about to embark on rise of tiamat with my lvl 9 (oath of the crown) paladin using a greatsword (the cursed itsem from rezmir) with my 2 ASI fully put into strength (20 now) and my measly 14 charisma..... I hit hard but that's about it.
Here’s another tip: if you’re a damage-focused Paladin, try dual wielding. The spell Divine Favor benefits greatly from it, and it lets you smite an additional time if the attack hits.
Pro tip: casting a Smite SPELL is a bonus action, using your Divine Smite ABILITY does not activate until you already hit with your attack action. Stab 'em, slab 'em.
Yes! I've been saying CHR>STR for so long now. Most people seem to think it's the other way around and try to build the pally like a knockoff Fighter, but that's not their primary role.
@@okayultra Abilities and character backstory mostly. My DM hasn’t done a particularly good job of engaging me with my oath and patron deity as a Paladin, so it’s gotten a bit stale to channel divinity that I barely touch base with. However…I’m starting to think that might actually be a perfect story opportunity for me to switch to our Cleric’s deity, who regularly has influenced the story of the campaign, albeit less directly.
Not every D&D is about combat, my friend. Being a Paladin who took Oath of Redemption myself, diplomacy is my first attempt to end combat. When combat is inevitable, I support the front line with spells and protect the backline with Aura of Protection/Guardian. Enemy attack the Sorcerer? "Fret not, my magical friend, I am your shield" as I take that damage instead. Enemy burst damage our front liner? "Stand your ground, big guy! The Gods punish who stand in our way" as I redirect that damage instead. I am having a blast playing Paladin that fits my kind of roleplay
Put enough points into strength to be able to use heavy armor and take a 1 level dip into hexblade. Max charisma. Boom, one stat dictating every attack or spell.
Trying to figure out why Dueling as FS is such a clear pick... 🤔 I would expect a Paladin to either go GWM which would not work with Dueling or use a shield with PAM and spear which works with Dueling. But I do not see that this is an obvious decision optimization wise... 😅 Can anyone let me know what I am overlooking?
Specifically with smiting. The best time to smite is at the beginning of combat, my players try to hold their smite to the end and they don't realize the boss had 10 hp and they would've killed the monster without the smite and could've killed it a turn earlier because of the extra damage
As, someone who likes playing paladins as tanks I grab the defense fighting style, a shield, and cast spells like bless and shield of faith making me a brick wall for enemies to slam against. I also use the shield master feat to just say screw you to fire balls.
I created dex based paladin once (high elf). Not the most effective build, but was just really satisfying to play. Unfortunately she died at session 1 (not because of build, I just made poor decision), and I still didn't do it again as I wanted to try other ideas. But once I'll return to this.
Watch Pack Tactic’s video on smite vs spell casting. It’s interesting that bless actually outperforms smite in overall damage. Don’t underestimate the importance of pali’s spells. They’re reeeaaally good
Defence fighting style and Shield of Faith will give a +3 to AC that's good on chain mail at early levels and on plate at later levels. Cast Compelled duel next and you're a better tank than most fighters and barbarians. Also Bless is amazing. Support + tank paladin build for the win!
I pick blind fighting style because I wanted to used with my tiefling Paladin. Casting darkness and able to cleanly fight in said darkness is very handy
How to better optimize Paladin: Add one or two levels of Hexblade Warlock (maybe three, if you _really_ want the Pact Boon), and consider investing in having 14 Dex and Half-Plate, instead of focusing on Full Plate. Charisma is still a primary focus, when it comes to stat increases. Having a higher Dexterity will assist your Initiative rolls, and give you a slightly better chance at stealth than most other Paladins. Although Half Plate will still grant disadvantage to Stealth checks, the improved Dexterity score will ensure that swapping to weaker armor for Stealth missions (such as swapping from Half Plate to a Breastplate) will be less detrimental, compared to swapping off of Full Plate while possessing a low/negative Dex score. Not only that, but a 14 in Dex is slightly easier to achieve than a 15 in Strength, and at the cost of 1 AC, Half Plate is half as expensive, meaning you'll be far more likely to acquire the set of armor you have in mind. This aspect is doubly important for campaigns where loot is scarce, and you'll have to save up for any armor you want/need to buy. Having a low Strength score would normally result in weak attacks, but the Hex Warrior feature of the Hexblade subclass allows you to attack with your Charisma modifier instead, so long as you're either using your Pact Weapon (should you invest in Pact of the Blade). You can also extend this feature to a single weapon you touch after you finish a long rest, so long as the weapon you touched isn't two-handed, and you're proficient with it. Proficiency with most weapons isn't a big issue, as both Paladin and Hexblade Warlock grant you proficiency with Simple and Martial weapons. Plus, pairing a one-handed weapon with a shield provides obvious defensive merits. In comparison, a Paladin that relies on his Strength score for wearing Full Plate and to perform melee attacks will need to continuously invest points into their Strength, taking away from the points they could invest elsewhere. Relying on a set maximum of 14 Dex, in comparison to relying on up to 18-20 Str, ensures a more even distribution between your Con and Cha, thus not only allowing your Paladin to be healthier overall, but your Paladin spells will also carry that much more of a sting. Furthermore, Hexblade lets you gain access to various spells that Paladins can't normally access, such as Shield, Hex, Hellish Rebuke, and Eldritch Blast. For an optional second-level investment, you'll not only be able to improve Eldritch Blast in various ways (and/or acquire alternative Invocations), but you'll also gain access to _two_ spell slots that recharge upon short rests. Said spell slots can be spent on Smites, to help Paladins get more mileage out of their class feature. Hexblade even grants automatic access to Wrathful Smite, leaving more room for other Paladin spells. Eldritch Blast itself is a rather important boon to most Paladins, as Paladins often suffer when it comes to ranged damage. With this cantrip, you gain a 120 foot source of damage that most enemies aren't resistant/immune to, you deal 1d10 spammable damage per beam, and the cantrip scales with _character_ level, not _class_ level. This means that you can be a 16th level Paladin/1st level Hexblade Warlock, and _still_ fire four beams at a time.
Any smite spells you recommend? All the ones you get at level 2 seem less usefull than divine smite. The only Smite that looked good to me was Destructuve Smite/Wave.
@@zioqqr4262 thanks. I'm not used to playing spellcasters so smite spells with gimmicks feel like a waste of a spell slot. Is the chance of inflicting fear on an enemy really worth it? (Geniune question, I just feel like using a buff like heroism or shield of faith is a smarter use of a slot)
@@humannomore7759 It really depends on the situation. Iirc wrathful smite inflicts fear for 1 minute (Concentrstion), allowing a save at the end of each turn. If you max out charisma by lv5, then your DC is 16 which is very decent. Fear means the target has disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks (and I think even saves?), as long as youre within their line of sight. This is very good, its basically poisoned condition. BUT they also cannot willingly move closer to you (as long as they can see you). So while a buff can also be rlly helpful when fighting groups or when youre cornered as a party, Wrathful smite can allow you to basically remove an enemy from the battlefield, allowing for a chance to flee, safely reposition or simply postponing the danger they pose. But from my experience Im hyperanalytical, so your mileage will vary depding on hoe strategic your party is, and also the composition. TLDR: Control helps protect squishies, buffs mostly help other Advancers (Barb, Rogue, Fighter, anyone whos got a sword and the dps to prove it)
@@zioqqr4262 thanks for the in depth explanation. I have a few questions tho. Seeing how it's a concentration spell, doesn't that work poorly with bring a Frontline warrior? Then, does the frightened effect get removed if the victim takes damage? Like charm?
@@humannomore7759 Nope, not a charm effect. Works like the Fear spell, hurt them all you want. Against concentration are several tactics: Simply have a high AC. Take Warcaster instead of ASI (Adv on Concentration saves) Improvise, Adapt, Overcome (Perhaps you have Bardic Inspo or Cutting Words, a Fighter with Protection Style, a Wizard that can put a wall around you, a Barbarian, Rogue or Battlemaster than can goade enemies. Remember youre not alone.) And thirdly: If you engage the target of your fear and then move out at the end of the turn, it makes its opportunity attack with disadvangage and cant move towards you on its turn. Thats why buffs are more popular: Control is extremely dynamic so you need to play 5d chess while the barbarian and sorcerer have fun in the ballpit lol (i love my barbs and sorcs, no offense)
Certain Paladins care more about charisma than others while for a lot of early Paladins charisma was a do more stat. I tend to focus on spells that don’t require my spell mod. Bless, sacred weapon, etc
I know there are players that will dump charisma, because they basically want a fighter who smites. I usually end up with high charisma and strength, with middling constitution. So I'm less tough than the Fighter or Barbarian, but I make up for it with heals and buffs.
I mean I get your arguement for charisma, but I think there are issues like: you don't have that many spells slots and not all of them require good spellcasting focus and aura only comes in later levels, so I feel like when making the characther invest more on STR, specially if the camaping isn't going into higher levels, but otherwise put most of your ability score improvement into CHA
This is why it’s good for strength based paladins to rely on resourceless ways to be useful, like feats such as shield master, GWM, or polearm master. Sometimes that smite is too irresistible to pass on.
My paladin has a 19 in CHA and homebrew armor that raises his STR to 19 while wearing it, so stats are cool. Dueling fighting style might not work for him because he uses great weapons though 😂
It's usually better to smite with your smites too. Since the smite spells buff your next melee attack, and then when you make a melee attack you can smite again... I am truly smitten.
@@mjela4516 multiclassing is easier if you roll for stats and roll well. Allows for more flexible builds. Of course there’s always the Dex fighter who takes a couple rogue levels without any stat troubles… I had a glory paladin who had 17 str, 16 con, and 17 cha at level 1. I also had 13 dex. So a really decent spread with only two stats 10 or worse. Pretty early on, i picked up two rogue levels for the athletics expertise, and then picked up shield master. This was my bread and butter for several more levels before I ever bumped my str to 18. By the time my str and cha were 20, they were the only stats I ever buffed since delayed my first ASI. My con must’ve been 16 the entire time. Multiclassing always needs a sacrifice somewhere. But more-so with standard array.
I used to duel class paladin and cleric on dragonborn, and pretty much solo stories while my friends did literally anything else, very fun though I can’t remember how i did it
1. Take hexblade lvl 1. 2. CHA MAX, DEX +2, CON next max. Others distribute as needed. Str isn't important at all. Grab medium armor, shield and if u need it, shield of faith. U don't need plate armor, your points would be better used elsewhere.
"If you don't know if you should smite or cast a spell. It means that it's time to smite." I love it.
why think when you can smite instead
@@MonkeyDM Precisely.
Do you wanna tank?
Do you wanna fight?
Do you want a class that'll instill fright?
Pick up some plate and keep the goblins in sight
Cuz you wanna make sure they eat this Paladin
*S M I T E*
-Legendary bard, JoCat
o7
Nice 👍
He's my fav dnd youtuber, this guy 3rd
Sounds like a dwarven paladin war song
Long may he reign! o7
1st step, multiclass 1 level into Hexblade
Multiclassing isn’t allowed at some tables and for a good reason
Very true.
@@kipy_mudkip
Aside from the bookkeeping there's no good reason.
@@PlanktonWhisperer DM here, I don't allow multiclassing because it typically takes away from the story when my holy cleric takes 3 levels in rogue then jumps to druid. Second, it makes for typically overpowered characters that are incredibly strong in one thing but kind of weak in another. This forces me to play to their strengths if I want to avoid a TPK. So yeah, multiclassing banned. For good reasons.
@@kipy_mudkip True. I think in that case, I'd ask for a magical weapon that scales off CHA instead of STR/DEX.
I love how the cutaway clips are Garen
What are those clips from?
DEMACIAAAAAAAAA
@@richtigmann1 League of Legends
That why I love do that in DnD just be paladin then charisma into intimidate then scream damacia
10/10, the biggest misconception about any dnd class is the idea that a paladin's main stat is strength
oh yeah charisma is incredibly useful for them
Their main Stat IS Strength though...
Charisma does a lot for them, yes. But does very little that actively wins an encounter
Strength is used for both accuracy and damage of their attacks. Do you want to do Smites? You need to hit first
Charisma helps improve the DC of their Spells; but look at the Paladin Spell list. How many of their spells impose a DC Save that do not also involve a Weapon Attack?
Charisma improves their Saving throws with Aura of Protection - This is huge bonus. But it's still more helpful to the party if you kill or control enemies than to get a net +1 or 2 to evade a fireball
You win a combat encounter by reducing your enemies actions per round to zero; With the exception of Conquest Paladins who can use their spellcasting more aggressively, Charisma does not do that for the class
Notes:
The fact that Aura of protection also helps allies saves is good, very good at times, but also leaves your party vulnerable to AoE - So your mileage here may vary.
Hexblade Multiclass is popular to get CHA on Weapon attacks; but you still need at least 15 STR to avoid a speed penalty from Heavy Armor; and it severely limits your weapon options. (Greatsword or Glaive being the best options for paladins who want to deal damage)
Exception Exists for Paladin who plans to multiclass Sorcerer. Similar to Conquest Paladins; a Soradin is very capable of spellcasting aggressively while dealing out weapon attacks
@@TheGaboom paladins do mid damage anyway, and smite is usually not as efficient as ust casting. Not to mention you lose very little from just having +3.
In a caster's world, saving throws are the best thing a marital can bring.
@@Siennarchist Mid damage...compared to what, exactly?
Not even talking about Divine Smite; A Great Weapon Master can do considerable single-target damage
Greatsword with GWM = 22.33 Damage
- 2 Attacks at 5
And a Paladin has all sorts of tools to compensate that -5 accuracy penalty
Smiting is definitely inefficient when talking about resource management, but on the action economy - that single target burst damage can wreck shop.
_ __________ _
If you have downtime, craft some scrolls for your casting - the low level ones don't take that long to make and can free up slots to smite.
A Full caster can still beat them when it comes to AoE damage and control - but when it comes to Single Target damage a Great Weapon Master is hard to beat
(Usually with Polearm Master as well, but I usually Greatsword as Paladin since I personally like saving the bonus action as a Paladin for some casting)
_ __________ _
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a casters world; you aren't fighting the Wizard on your team
You are working together fighting monsters and various creatures / encounters the GM throws out - So while you may encounter some Class-Level NPCs the GM designs manually ~ most targets are those pre-made from the books, and very few of those have proper spellcasting
paladins in general are easy to play and solid, they don't have incredible damage nor their aura is greatly effective (I mean you want to be more like 15 or 20 foot away from the tank so melee enemies can't get to you on first turn). I do think that strength should be raised first and that a good starting cha bonus (+3) will be more than enough. My go to is PAM and dueling with shield as vHuman, raise to 18 str at 4 and pick lucky at 8.
Well, I feel a defense could be made to choose the defense fighting style. A sweet, sweet +1 AC
If you're using a 2 handed weapon, this is easily the best choice
Eh, a plus 1 to ac is only a 5 percent chance of not getting hit when you would've been hit. There's much better fighting styles available. For instance inception which let's you use your reaction to reduce the amount of damage an ally takes. You can play your character however you want but this is about optimization not stylization
@@davidanddragons5339 that percentage is additive, if you have a silly amount of AC the average odds of you getting hit drops more significantly than 5%.
an argument could be made to take the dual wielding style and slap everything with even more divine smites per turn
I mean here’s a simple flow chart:
Want to deal more damage with smites? Take dual wielder.
If you want to use a shield and heavy armor? Take defense.
Love these videos, glad to see you keep posting them. Maybe a warlock next? Or artificer?
there are both on deck :)
@@MonkeyDM Would like to see Sorcerer. Not sure if you do subclasses but an extra on Shadow Magic Sorc would be great as well :)
The man's veins are other worldly, holy shit.
Maxing Charisma over Strength works especially well for a Devotion Paladin, with their Channel Divinity giving them bonus to hit equal to Cha 😁
When ✍️ in ✍️ doubt ✍️ smite ✍️... Thanks. I'm planning to play a paladin soon and this advice will be really helpful, I think.
Smiting isn't always the best option. It deals damage but you also have spells that can contribute a lot more than a single attack can, like bless.
“Looking to buff yourself, or deal some damage?”
- Weapon Lady, Game (Year)
I've been running a dex based paladin and it's oddly working really well lol
Big Disagree here.
Optimizing a Paladin depends on your goals.
For Example; If your goal is melee damage, STR is Primary Stat for a damage-build Paladin, then CHA.
Using standard array Point-Buy; As a Variant Human, get the Great Weapon Master feat and begin with 16 STR and CHA, any other points going to CON
Use a 2-Handed Weapon - Great Weapon Master feat; Relying on Magic Items, Bless, Channel Divinity, etc to cover the penalty to hit. Preferably Polearm Master as well, but as a half-caster, you could get away with using a Greatsword instead for style points
Longsword Damage with dueling fighting style is 6.5
Greatsword Damage with the fighting style and GWM feat is 18.33~
Your class gives you the tools to compensate that accuracy penalty, especially with Vengeance and Devotion Paladins; make use of it, and your reward will be damage.
Notes:
- Monsters do not have that high of AC on average ; Because of this, any accuracy bonuses are most powerful in the hands of a GWM who can translate those bonuses into damage
- Your Aura bonus to saves is not the be all / end all. Being next to your friends improves Saves, but also makes you all vulnerable to AoE effects.
- Only use Divine Smite if you think it will make the difference in finishing an enemy off; Varies by table, use your best judgement depending how often you get Long Rests
- Keep a Thrown or Ranged Weapon handy ; You are strongest in melee, but keep your options open in case key targets are out of reach
Moreover on the topic of Warlock Multiclass; Hexblade Warlock does make Paladin stats easier, but it severely limits your weapon options until 3 Levels of Warlock (Assuming Pact of Blade). So only competes in damage at 9+ ; At which point you would have otherwise been close to unlocking Improved Divine Smite for a +1d8 Damage to all of your attacks
Further, a Straight level 9 Paladin would have been gaining access to level 3 Spells.
- Aura of Vitality
- Crusaders Mantle
- Dispel Magic
- Crown Paladins get Spirit Guardians, Oathbreakers Animate Dead, Redemption get Counterspell AND Hypnotic Pattern, and Watchers also Get Counterspell
There is value in Warlock Multiclass, but IMO it is not comparable to a Pure Paladin in most cases (Depending on your Oath; mileage may vary)
Sorcerer Paladin works well though because of Quicken allowing you to pair any spell with the Attack Action, which is huge for your action economy
J'adore ! Ce sera très utile pour mes joueurs débutants d'avoir un résumé aussi simple !
As a conquest paladin being able to fear someone and knock them prone will put the fear of God into them when their movement speed is 0 and they can't get back up.
Thank you as always!
I'm playing Paladin for the first time. This was helpful.
If the enemy is not immune to Fear, Wrathful smite is AMAZING because it's a Wisdom Check and not a Wisdom Save. Also, there are some great healing combos with Clerics or Bards. Beacon of Hope combined with Mass Cure Wounds can massively heal the entire party in a single turn.
fyi everyone, the paladin aura that gives you and your allies + your charisma mod to saving throws applies to DEATH saving throws too.
Only for allies though, not for the paladin since the aura turns off when incapacitated
Thanks for giving this piece of information. You are good at information and explanation.
Another option... pick vhuman or custom lineage pick a feat that allows you to pick a cantrip or two from warlock spell list to pick up magic stone use a sling and the smites that work with ranged weapons to have a fun time.
Warning DM rulings may vary consult with your DM but this is a fun build
Awesome choice of music i must say
Also: the custom smites give you more smite per smite. You cast a custom smite like searing smite, hit the thing and use divine smite on top of that. More smite per smite
The most optimized paladin is max str with great weapon fighting style, because you can reroll 1s and 2s on your damage dice.
On average, great weapon fighting adds slightly less than 1 damage per hit. Not a buildmaker.
@@alexanderblixt1221 It works with your smites and smite spells, you get more value with it as a paladin than any other class. Then you take the Great Weapon Master feat.
@@Tsequiri You do get value out of it, but it is still less than 1 damage per dice. It's good, but nothing to write home about.
Great Weapon Master is very good as always, of course, but if you intend to take a penalty to your attack rolls, you should reserve some spell slots for bless rather than smites.
Vos vidéos sont très utiles pour ceux et celles qui veulent commencer une aventure dans le monde fantastique de DnD. Merci pour tout les idées que vous m'avez donner!
A stacked Smite attack is a favorite of mine. Stacks Divine Smite with Thunderous Smite for a boat load of damage.
For an advanced trick, I found taking 3 levels into celestial warlock bolstered my paladin skill set very well.
Bonus action healing, renewing spell slots, & utility invocations to be a better heal tank.
I'm currently playing a Oath of vengeance Palatin Hexblade Multiclass in one of my groups and it's so much fun, he is a Paladin that got cursed by a coven of Cultists and his entite family died because of the curse (the reason for his oath of vengeance), he didn't die because the magic sword he was gifted (by a highpriest of Ares, yes there are all kinds of mythologies in the campaign) absorbed the curse and became sentient and that is how he became a Hexblade.
One time I made a Paladin (8th level) who's entire selection of spells was smites.
He was Oath of the open sea, so he did have a couple that weren't smites, but that was only cuz of his subclass.
when in doubt, smite
I never really thought about whether Garen would be a paladin
In lore he's a fighter, in game a paladin
I like them with haleberd and protection for more helping friend. Taking polearm master and sentinel.
You can also pick a dwarf and 1 level in hexblade Warlock, so you can simply ignore strength at all and max charisma and con.
Multiclassing in and out of Paladin requires at least 13 in Strength tho
Love the legend of zelda music... need to go play oot
Counterargument: maxing Charisma for spells isn't the best idea. Most of the time you will end up using self buffs or buffs to the party that either give dice improvements or help with conditions. Since there are no saves or spell attacks involved, you don't need a 20 Cha to work as a good spellcaster.
Ofc maxing your Cha for the aura is indeed very smart, but a +3 goes a long way without investing so hard in Charisma. It really depends on what you want to do with you Paladin, but usually you would rather max out your Con/main damaging stat (Dex or Str) than Cha. If you use feats, it becomes even more secondary.
It wasn’t an optimized paladin build but;
In one campaign we had the deck of many things. Of the cards we pulled, one was the level 4 fighter companion and the other was three wishes. We were already reallly late in the campaign so we wished for the fighter to be level 20 (same as us). After rolling stats I went home and multiclassed the shit out of it…
Same race as me, so Half-Elf
Level 4 Fighter (as required)
Battle master (Bait&switch, goading attack, and disarming attack)
Level 4 Barbarian
Totem warrior (bear)
Level 4 Monk
Open hand
Level 8 Paladin
Oath of the Ancients
We had a homebrew item that gave players more attunement slots based on how many other players had the same item and were “friends” (some role play restrictions) but in total from the treasures we had gathered, he had Storm Girdle, Sword of Answering, Animated Shield, Belt of Dwarvenkind, and a Guardian Emblem.
After a few ASI’s the stats were:
STR 23 (from a 13 with the storm girdle)
CON 20
DEX 20
INT 11
WIS 14
CHA 20
As well as the Sentinel and Telekinetic feats.
Unarmored defense of 20(barbarian) plus a shield (it’s animated so not technically holding a shield)
Max hp of 244
Fighting styles: unarmed fighting and interception
Dedicated monk weapon long sword (sword of answering) with flurry of blows buffed by open hand
1 extra attack
Auras of protection and warding: +cha to saving throws for allies and resistance to spell damage
Resistance to all damage except psychic while raging
Maneuvers that support allies
Smites to improve damage while not raging (flurry of blows while raging)
Channel divinity to restrain or turn enemies
While not holding the shield(animated) 40ft movement speed (to trigger Bait&switch easier)
Deflect missiles for ranged weapon defense and interception fighting style to protect allies
Minor healing abilities from paladin
Advantage against being charmed and can’t be put to sleep (Half-Elf)
Access to compelled duel spell plus goading strike to prevent attacks against allies
Sentinel feat to stop enemies going after allies
Telekinetic feat to shove creatures from a distance if needed (can also shove allies away from enemy reach)
This dude was a tank for damage and supported us players with everything it had. I didn’t want to break the game by making an overpowered Dps character that could shred enemies (so no hexblade or rogue, or spellcaster besides paladin), but with amazing rolls and some unused equipment I made an overpowered tank support for our mostly squishy party. One thing I’ve learned is that there’s nothing DMs hate more than an extremely efficient and effective support to derail the dm’s combat plans. With all the positioning support, goading, resistances, and defense, it was hard to get multiple hits against anyone else and if you did it came at a huge cost for relatively little damage…
Not many people realize you can stack the smite spells with your usual smites, dealing massive damage. Even better if you land a critical hit.
get one level in warlock hexblade so you can attack with charisma you can dip 5 levels to double smite... and if you need slots you can get 3 levels of sorcerer divine soul for slot and sorcery points
Fun fact: there's nothing that says you can only smite with your main hand weapon. Pick up the dual wielder feat and snag two finesse weapons and enjoy smiting three times per round.
Or Polearm Master and use a spear, halberd, or glaive
DEMACIAAA!
FOR THE *CAUSE!*
JUSTIIIIIICE!
Underrated feat is heavy armor master.
nice to know after we've done hoard of the dragon queen and are about to embark on rise of tiamat with my lvl 9 (oath of the crown) paladin using a greatsword (the cursed itsem from rezmir) with my 2 ASI fully put into strength (20 now) and my measly 14 charisma..... I hit hard but that's about it.
Bruv...them vains 😮 ! Gym bro !!!
Here’s another tip: if you’re a damage-focused Paladin, try dual wielding. The spell Divine Favor benefits greatly from it, and it lets you smite an additional time if the attack hits.
Pro tip: casting a Smite SPELL is a bonus action, using your Divine Smite ABILITY does not activate until you already hit with your attack action. Stab 'em, slab 'em.
This mans voice, mimic and hand gestures remind me of Arcane Victor which is kinda fitting.
How to build an optimized Artificer?
Yeah thatd be good
I loved my Pali so much.
Yes! I've been saying CHR>STR for so long now. Most people seem to think it's the other way around and try to build the pally like a knockoff Fighter, but that's not their primary role.
Like a wise dm one said “if you don’t want to fight, you might as well smite.”
Gg for garen being a perfect paladin from lol
I’ve been playing an Oath of the Open Sea strength based Paladin and it’s…Really strange, and a bit hard. Granted, it’s my first campaign ever.
Hard as in hard to play in general or hard as in your abilities dont really mesh well with your campaign setting?
@@okayultra Abilities and character backstory mostly. My DM hasn’t done a particularly good job of engaging me with my oath and patron deity as a Paladin, so it’s gotten a bit stale to channel divinity that I barely touch base with. However…I’m starting to think that might actually be a perfect story opportunity for me to switch to our Cleric’s deity, who regularly has influenced the story of the campaign, albeit less directly.
Not every D&D is about combat, my friend. Being a Paladin who took Oath of Redemption myself, diplomacy is my first attempt to end combat. When combat is inevitable, I support the front line with spells and protect the backline with Aura of Protection/Guardian. Enemy attack the Sorcerer? "Fret not, my magical friend, I am your shield" as I take that damage instead. Enemy burst damage our front liner? "Stand your ground, big guy! The Gods punish who stand in our way" as I redirect that damage instead. I am having a blast playing Paladin that fits my kind of roleplay
I mean maxing charisma quite literally is about.. being better at talking. And even though combat should come secondary, its still a vital part of dnd
Put enough points into strength to be able to use heavy armor and take a 1 level dip into hexblade. Max charisma. Boom, one stat dictating every attack or spell.
Protect the weak! Smite the Wicked!
Imma just use tge oath of throwing it back
Trying to figure out why Dueling as FS is such a clear pick... 🤔 I would expect a Paladin to either go GWM which would not work with Dueling or use a shield with PAM and spear which works with Dueling. But I do not see that this is an obvious decision optimization wise... 😅
Can anyone let me know what I am overlooking?
Especially when prioritising cha, the extra damage is never gonna land
Dueling can also be swapped for Defense, as Smites and Improved Divine Smite can carry your damage
Specifically with smiting. The best time to smite is at the beginning of combat, my players try to hold their smite to the end and they don't realize the boss had 10 hp and they would've killed the monster without the smite and could've killed it a turn earlier because of the extra damage
As, someone who likes playing paladins as tanks I grab the defense fighting style, a shield, and cast spells like bless and shield of faith making me a brick wall for enemies to slam against. I also use the shield master feat to just say screw you to fire balls.
I created dex based paladin once (high elf). Not the most effective build, but was just really satisfying to play. Unfortunately she died at session 1 (not because of build, I just made poor decision), and I still didn't do it again as I wanted to try other ideas. But once I'll return to this.
My build is eldritch knight 8/ abjuration wizard 8/ paladin 2. He has 18 strength, 18 intelligence, 13 charisma😊
I never thought about prioritising charisma over strength
Watch Pack Tactic’s video on smite vs spell casting. It’s interesting that bless actually outperforms smite in overall damage. Don’t underestimate the importance of pali’s spells. They’re reeeaaally good
Defence fighting style and Shield of Faith will give a +3 to AC that's good on chain mail at early levels and on plate at later levels. Cast Compelled duel next and you're a better tank than most fighters and barbarians. Also Bless is amazing. Support + tank paladin build for the win!
I pick blind fighting style because I wanted to used with my tiefling Paladin. Casting darkness and able to cleanly fight in said darkness is very handy
Easy solution, one level into hexblade and it's gg. Charisma for both attacks and spells
Multiclass into hexblade warlock than it's really true all you need is charisma and enough str for heavy armor
Let's get sorcerer next, wild surge for the win!
Wait a second...an optimized paladin sounds like my perfect playstyle...well time to research paladins
Garen with smite, must be a troll
Have you... never seen a garen jungle? It works better than many meta junglers.
@@mialevac9405 at the moment Garen jungle is pretty bad, has been for a while now. I guess you could still play it but it will be lackluster at best
Hoping for one of these videos about a bladesinger wizard, I'm playing as one and have no idea on what I'm doing 😃🤧
Cool cool cool, but where is that animation from?
Theyre league of legends character clips
How to better optimize Paladin:
Add one or two levels of Hexblade Warlock (maybe three, if you _really_ want the Pact Boon), and consider investing in having 14 Dex and Half-Plate, instead of focusing on Full Plate. Charisma is still a primary focus, when it comes to stat increases.
Having a higher Dexterity will assist your Initiative rolls, and give you a slightly better chance at stealth than most other Paladins. Although Half Plate will still grant disadvantage to Stealth checks, the improved Dexterity score will ensure that swapping to weaker armor for Stealth missions (such as swapping from Half Plate to a Breastplate) will be less detrimental, compared to swapping off of Full Plate while possessing a low/negative Dex score. Not only that, but a 14 in Dex is slightly easier to achieve than a 15 in Strength, and at the cost of 1 AC, Half Plate is half as expensive, meaning you'll be far more likely to acquire the set of armor you have in mind. This aspect is doubly important for campaigns where loot is scarce, and you'll have to save up for any armor you want/need to buy.
Having a low Strength score would normally result in weak attacks, but the Hex Warrior feature of the Hexblade subclass allows you to attack with your Charisma modifier instead, so long as you're either using your Pact Weapon (should you invest in Pact of the Blade). You can also extend this feature to a single weapon you touch after you finish a long rest, so long as the weapon you touched isn't two-handed, and you're proficient with it. Proficiency with most weapons isn't a big issue, as both Paladin and Hexblade Warlock grant you proficiency with Simple and Martial weapons. Plus, pairing a one-handed weapon with a shield provides obvious defensive merits.
In comparison, a Paladin that relies on his Strength score for wearing Full Plate and to perform melee attacks will need to continuously invest points into their Strength, taking away from the points they could invest elsewhere. Relying on a set maximum of 14 Dex, in comparison to relying on up to 18-20 Str, ensures a more even distribution between your Con and Cha, thus not only allowing your Paladin to be healthier overall, but your Paladin spells will also carry that much more of a sting.
Furthermore, Hexblade lets you gain access to various spells that Paladins can't normally access, such as Shield, Hex, Hellish Rebuke, and Eldritch Blast. For an optional second-level investment, you'll not only be able to improve Eldritch Blast in various ways (and/or acquire alternative Invocations), but you'll also gain access to _two_ spell slots that recharge upon short rests. Said spell slots can be spent on Smites, to help Paladins get more mileage out of their class feature. Hexblade even grants automatic access to Wrathful Smite, leaving more room for other Paladin spells.
Eldritch Blast itself is a rather important boon to most Paladins, as Paladins often suffer when it comes to ranged damage. With this cantrip, you gain a 120 foot source of damage that most enemies aren't resistant/immune to, you deal 1d10 spammable damage per beam, and the cantrip scales with _character_ level, not _class_ level. This means that you can be a 16th level Paladin/1st level Hexblade Warlock, and _still_ fire four beams at a time.
Any smite spells you recommend? All the ones you get at level 2 seem less usefull than divine smite. The only Smite that looked good to me was Destructuve Smite/Wave.
The smite that causes fear is pretty good for control.
All the smite spells rely on saves, so if you maxed out charisma, theyre all pretty decent.
@@zioqqr4262 thanks. I'm not used to playing spellcasters so smite spells with gimmicks feel like a waste of a spell slot. Is the chance of inflicting fear on an enemy really worth it? (Geniune question, I just feel like using a buff like heroism or shield of faith is a smarter use of a slot)
@@humannomore7759 It really depends on the situation.
Iirc wrathful smite inflicts fear for 1 minute (Concentrstion), allowing a save at the end of each turn.
If you max out charisma by lv5, then your DC is 16 which is very decent.
Fear means the target has disadvantage on all attack rolls and ability checks (and I think even saves?), as long as youre within their line of sight.
This is very good, its basically poisoned condition.
BUT they also cannot willingly move closer to you (as long as they can see you).
So while a buff can also be rlly helpful when fighting groups or when youre cornered as a party, Wrathful smite can allow you to basically remove an enemy from the battlefield, allowing for a chance to flee, safely reposition or simply postponing the danger they pose.
But from my experience Im hyperanalytical, so your mileage will vary depding on hoe strategic your party is, and also the composition.
TLDR: Control helps protect squishies, buffs mostly help other Advancers (Barb, Rogue, Fighter, anyone whos got a sword and the dps to prove it)
@@zioqqr4262 thanks for the in depth explanation. I have a few questions tho. Seeing how it's a concentration spell, doesn't that work poorly with bring a Frontline warrior? Then, does the frightened effect get removed if the victim takes damage? Like charm?
@@humannomore7759 Nope, not a charm effect. Works like the Fear spell, hurt them all you want.
Against concentration are several tactics:
Simply have a high AC.
Take Warcaster instead of ASI (Adv on Concentration saves)
Improvise, Adapt, Overcome
(Perhaps you have Bardic Inspo or Cutting Words, a Fighter with Protection Style, a Wizard that can put a wall around you, a Barbarian, Rogue or Battlemaster than can goade enemies. Remember youre not alone.)
And thirdly: If you engage the target of your fear and then move out at the end of the turn, it makes its opportunity attack with disadvangage and cant move towards you on its turn.
Thats why buffs are more popular: Control is extremely dynamic so you need to play 5d chess while the barbarian and sorcerer have fun in the ballpit lol
(i love my barbs and sorcs, no offense)
Also Oath of Ancients if you don't feel like dealing with spell damage at later levels.
Garen!
Makes sense
Certain Paladins care more about charisma than others while for a lot of early Paladins charisma was a do more stat.
I tend to focus on spells that don’t require my spell mod. Bless, sacred weapon, etc
Demacia!!!
Smite always,questions later
I know there are players that will dump charisma, because they basically want a fighter who smites. I usually end up with high charisma and strength, with middling constitution. So I'm less tough than the Fighter or Barbarian, but I make up for it with heals and buffs.
Can you do a video on how to build a wizard
I mean I get your arguement for charisma, but I think there are issues like: you don't have that many spells slots and not all of them require good spellcasting focus and aura only comes in later levels, so I feel like when making the characther invest more on STR, specially if the camaping isn't going into higher levels, but otherwise put most of your ability score improvement into CHA
I’m starting a 5e campaign as an aasamir protector paladin. I know it’s prob not the best race class but I wanted wings for a little. Any tips?
Only smite if it’s a good idea. You don’t have the spell slots to waste on doing it for fun, not until lvl 10+
This is why it’s good for strength based paladins to rely on resourceless ways to be useful, like feats such as shield master, GWM, or polearm master. Sometimes that smite is too irresistible to pass on.
All I hear when he says ‘aura’ is ORA ORA ORA ORAAA
Personally I prefer the defense fighting style bc I enjoy tanking & maximizing my ac.
My paladin has a 19 in CHA and homebrew armor that raises his STR to 19 while wearing it, so stats are cool. Dueling fighting style might not work for him because he uses great weapons though 😂
Ah yes paladins the clerics little brother
I AM a Main Garen, now i know my Main class
It's usually better to smite with your smites too. Since the smite spells buff your next melee attack, and then when you make a melee attack you can smite again... I am truly smitten.
I want a bard build please
I tend to build multi class dex paladins. My favorite build multi class twice.
Don't you end up with bad ability scores? Since you have to have 13 Str to multiclass Paladin, then have high Dex, Char and at least decent Con...
@@mjela4516 multiclassing is easier if you roll for stats and roll well. Allows for more flexible builds. Of course there’s always the Dex fighter who takes a couple rogue levels without any stat troubles…
I had a glory paladin who had 17 str, 16 con, and 17 cha at level 1. I also had 13 dex. So a really decent spread with only two stats 10 or worse.
Pretty early on, i picked up two rogue levels for the athletics expertise, and then picked up shield master. This was my bread and butter for several more levels before I ever bumped my str to 18.
By the time my str and cha were 20, they were the only stats I ever buffed since delayed my first ASI. My con must’ve been 16 the entire time.
Multiclassing always needs a sacrifice somewhere. But more-so with standard array.
I used to duel class paladin and cleric on dragonborn, and pretty much solo stories while my friends did literally anything else, very fun though I can’t remember how i did it
My favourite part, you can cast spell smites and smite your opponent when you hit him.
My lol 14 vengeance paladin weilding a great sword just mows down anything that dares cross his path. Cast spells? What's that? You mean smite? Yes!
My paladin builds can take on boss encounters. I normally either buff or debuff. Smilte still hits hard without adding to it.
1. Take hexblade lvl 1.
2. CHA MAX, DEX +2, CON next max. Others distribute as needed. Str isn't important at all. Grab medium armor, shield and if u need it, shield of faith. U don't need plate armor, your points would be better used elsewhere.
What about con?